Cashing in copper for drug money

By LAUREN L. DILLARD

Of The News-Register

Copper phone, power and TV cable is increasingly becoming the conduit of choice for addicts looking for a quick fix.

No, modern technology has not advanced to the point where drugs are being delivered on demand over twisted strands of copper. However, thanks to the soaring price of copper on the scrap market, those strands are increasingly being stolen and sold to support drug habits.

The problem has become so prevalent along the meth-drenched West Coast that the Oregon Legislature is enacting a bill aimed at making it more difficult for metal thieves to cash in.

Effective Jan. 1, House Bill 3026, signed by the governor at the conclusion of the 2007 session, will hold scrap dealers accountable for the sources of their product.

It requires dealers to keep accurate records, including names, descriptions and other details on individuals they buy from. And it requires dealers to produce those records on demand from law enforcement officers.

"It does a couple things," said Rep. Andy Olson, R-Albany, a former state trooper who served as one of the co-sponsors. "It puts pressure on and holds accountable the recycling organizations."

He became all too familiar with scrap metal theft during his days as a trooper. "A lot of what's driving it is the meth issue," he said.

Olson said addicts will make off with rain gutters, plumbing pipe, road signs, power lines, phone lines and irrigation pipe, just to name a few targets. They have even been known to strip off guard rails along bridges and roads, particularly during low-traffic hours in low-traffic places.

Cutting down live power lines is extremely dangerous, but addicts in search of drug money often take their chances. And more than two-dozen of them paid with their lives in the last 12 months alone, according to national figures compiled by The Associated Press.

"Thieves will cut and remove copper grounding cables to energized equipment," confirmed Heidi Helwig of the Bonneville Power Administration. On Oct. 11, a man was electrocuted in La Center, Wash., while trying to remove ground wire, she said.

The BPA supplies more than 40 percent of the power used in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana, and it has been getting hit hard. More than 40 thefts were logged at its substations last year alone.

As a result, the BPA is offering up to $25,000 in reward money for the arrest and conviction of anyone targeting its substations, lines or equipment.

Verizon Northwest, a major phone service supplier, is also finding itself a major target.

"It's a serious problem," said spokesman Kevin Laverty. "Yes, it is."

He said Verizon has experienced break-ins at distribution locations and the theft of spools of wire from storage places. He said thieves burn the rubber coating off the cable to remove identifying information.

"It's a meth-related problem," Laverty said. "Thieves take it to salvagers and recyclers to support their needs. They're looking for cooper anywhere they can find it."

That's true even if they find it outside a car wash, it seems.

The Brown Bear car wash has a lot of outlets in the Puget Sound area, and each one features a copper bear out front. Laverty said, "There are copper bears everywhere, and a boatload of them have been stolen."

Sometimes more than money is at stake. Sometimes thefts of live electrical or phone cable raises serious public safety issues.

In a local incident earlier this week, thieves knocked out the Newberg Fire Department's paging system when they ripped out 1,000 feet of live phone cable on Bald Peak. They also left almost 150 households without phone service, preventing them from using land-lines to report fire, police or medical emergencies.

In Northern California and neighboring parts of Nevada, thieves have been stealing wire from the junction boxes controlling vehicle and train traffic.

In one July 5 incident alone, according to the Sacramento Bee, thieves removed almost 5,000 feet of wiring from a California Department of Transportation junction box at the Interstate 80 inspection station near Truckee. In both the Newberg and Truckee cases, vehicles were used to pull the cable free.

Copper isn't the only metal of interest. Thieves are also going after steel, iron, brass, bronze, aluminum and other metals.

However, with copper now fetching upwards of $3 a pound on the scrap market, it has become the prime target.

In Syracuse, N.Y., thieves have been stealing bronze flag-holders from a cemetery. In the Philippines, a July 24 phone cable theft crippled equipment scientists were using to monitor an active volcano. In Singapore, lightning rods, guard railings, prayer urns and toilet fixtures have all been disappearing.

Last weekend, $50,000 worth of coated copper cable was stolen from a construction yard in British Columbia. Last year, thieves were caught stealing thousands of dollars worth of copper from the city hall roof in Columbus, Ohio.

"Anything can be stolen," Helwig said. At the BPA, she said, "We try to deter it by engaging the community in the crime-witness program."

Olson would like to see cable theft made a Class C felony during the next session of the Legislature.

"If you need dollars for dope, it's an easy way to get it," he said. Naturally, he'd like to see steps taken to change that.